Debating Group
The Debating Group discusses the contentious political issues which surround marketing.
Debating Group
The Debating Group discusses the contentious political issues which surround marketing.

Privacy Policy

The Debating Group Privacy Policy

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Introduction to Data Privacy at The Debating Group

At The Debating Group, personal data is central to us achieving our aim to inform people about the events we run.

We are committed to being up front with you about how we use your information, how we will keep it safe and how we will treat it with respect. As an organisation, we recognise the value of trust and transparency. This Privacy Policy is designed to give you all the information you need to better understand how we will manage your personal data. 

If you have got any concerns or questions after reading through this Privacy Policy, you can contact us in the following ways:

By post: Advertising Association, 5th Floor, 95 Aldwych, London WC2B 4JF

By email: info@debatinggroup.co.uk

Finally, if you want to raise your concerns about our use of personal data with the Information Commissioner, you do so in the following ways:

Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow.  Cheshire, SK9 5AF

Helpline Number: 0303 123 1113

ICO website: www.ico.org.uk

Why we process personal data and where we get it from

We process personal data and obtain personal information in the following two ways:

Directly — all of the personal data we process is given to 3rd party companies — Eventbrite and mailchimp — directly by our customers under the following circumstances:

  • Registering to attend an event organised by The Debating Group
  • Signing up to receive emails from The Debating Group

As data is held on servers by these companies on our behalf, their privacy policies and data protection processes also govern the protection of your data.

Eventbrite Privacy Policy: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/help/en-gb/articles/460838/eventbrite-privacy-policy/

Mailchimp Privacy Policy: https://mailchimp.com/legal/data-processing-addendum/

Nonetheless, in controlling the functions of these platforms and having observational access to the data for our use, The Debating Group must provide reasons we need to do so and explain how we will protect your data.

The lawful conditions relied on to process personal data

Direct Marketing

The UK GDPR says that we must identify a suitable lawful basis under which we can process personal data. For direct marketing, we rely on Consent and Legitimate Interests.

This is because we understand that people who have attended events organised by The Debating Group previously often like to know about upcoming events that may be of interest to them.

Under The Privacy & Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 (as amended), we rely on Consent to send direct marketing by email.

Consent

We rely on your consent to send you direct marketing communications by email and text. You can opt out at any time by emailing info@debatinggroup.co.uk or by clicking on “unsubscribe” in the emails we send to you via Mailchimp.

Our data retention periods

We store your personal information securely. The following table outlines the types of data that we hold and how long we hold it for:

Type of DataHow long we hold it for
EMAIL ADDRESS5 years (or within 3 months of unsubscribing)
NAME5 years (or within 3 months of unsubscribing)
ORGANISATION5 years (or within 3 months of unsubscribing)
DATE ADDED TO DATABASE5 years (or within 3 months of unsubscribing)

Your rights under the UK’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

Under the UK GDPR, you have the right to:

  1. be given clear and transparent information about how we will use your data;
  2. ask us for copies of the personal information we hold about you by making a Data Subject Access Request (DSAR). You can make this request by using the contact details provided in the introduction of this Privacy Policy. The ICO has a handy DASR template available on its website.

We have one month to respond to your request and will let you know before that time has passed if we need more time to get back to you. Please note that we reserve the right not to respond to DSARs that we believe might be vexatious. In those circumstances, we will clearly explain the reasons for not doing so to the data subject in writing. 

  • ask us to make changes to your data if you believe that what we do hold is inaccurate. For example, you can contact us if you have recently moved or changed your telephone number and we will update our records;
  • ask us to delete your personal data under certain circumstances such as;

(i) when we no longer need your data for the reasons we originally collected it;

(ii)  you withdraw your permission for us told it when consent was the original lawful basis

(iii) when we are compelled by law to erase it

For more information, please visit the ICO’s website.   

  • ask us to stop using your data for specific purposes. Unless we are under a legal or contractual obligation to do so, we must respect your wishes;
  • object to us using your data for purposes like direct marketing and profiling;
  • ask us to transfer your personal data to another organisation 

There is no charge to exercise any of your data protection rights and if you make a request, we have one month to get back to you.

More information about the rights you have under the UK GDPR can be found on the ICO website.